~ two friends, two countries, food between.

Tag Archives: sides

I love me some leeks. Leeks with calamari. Leeks with beef. Grilled leeks. Stir fried leeks. Mixed in with some eggs – simply perfect. Since KJ is (surprisingly) scallion obsessed, I threw some leeks – more or less jumbo scallions – into the shopping cart to test the waters with a basic, go-to Asian stir-fry. If the recipe took, it would get quickly absorbed into our fast and easy weeknight/school-night repertoire.

But rather than going about my usual cook/by/feel ways – a tendency with stir-fries, I thought I’d read up to see if there was something different I could do or add to make a simple dish even better. Yes, I really wanted this recipe to take.

What I found were a few tips from a recipe for pork and leeks, published in Saveur, which explained “reverse” stir-frying – adding vegetables in before meat. In the past, I’ve always done just the opposite. However, according to the article, cooking veggies first tends to be more forgiving since vegetables will release water and stick less if the wok is not hot enough. Also, the recipe suggests that slicing the leeks on the diagonal releases fragrance faster. Huh. Go figure. I had always thought it just looked prettier that way.

So with a few new tricks up my sleeve, I started with dinner. Or rather, KJ started with dinner while I documented (I am loving my new camera). So nice to have an extra set of hands around!

First, prepare the chicken – combine ingredients for the marinade and add the sliced chicken. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

While the chicken is soaking in all that goodness, slice and cook the leeks. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok over high heat; give the oil a couple of swirls in the wok to thoroughly coat the surface. Once the oil is heated, add the sliced leeks. Constantly stir and cook the leeks until they are fragrant and just begin to brown, ~3-4 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil, again swirl to coat the wok surfaces. Add chicken and cook, constantly stirring, until chicken is slightly browned and just caramelized (add an additional drizzle of honey or a bit of brown sugar if a slight caramel crust isn’t achieved yet), ~2-3 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, add the leeks back in, stir to mix, and cook for an additional minute. Salt and pepper to taste and drizzle the extra tablespoon of sesame seed oil.

Like this:

During our farmers market outing, KJ and I also picked up some gorgeous ginormous stalks of green scallions. Long, flowing, huge and wonderful. However, when cooking, I’ve become so accustomed to simply grabbing a red or white onion out of the vegetable basket that the scallions remained a bit neglected in the back of fridge for the following few days.

I was in luck, however, when I stumbled upon a recipe for scallion soup (courtesy of Saveur) while on the hunt for new warm comfort recipes. The original recipe adds a bit of butter to cook the green onions and finishes with a big helping of heavy cream. I wish I could say that I omitted those two ingredients out of a healthy conscience, but truth be told – I simply didn’t have butter nor cream on hand. Nevertheless, the soup turned out very smooth, minus the extra calories, with simply the addition of an extra potato (I used two potatoes instead of the one that the original recipe calls for). Also, sweet potatoes were substituted for the Russet potato used in the original. I found the sweetness to actually nicely balance the strong flavor of the onions.

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Set aside one chopped stalk of green onions for garnish; add the rest into the pot. Stirring often, cook until the onions are soft, but not browned (~5 minutes). Next, add the sliced sweet potatoes (I used the white variety), stock, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and allow the soup to a simmer. Cook until potatoes have softened, ~25 minutes. Finally, using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into individual bowls and sprinkle a bit of reserved chopped scallions over each.

KJ said that she could eat this soup every day – coming from a teenager, about the best compliment one could ever hope for! Considering the simplicity of the soup, well, she just might be eating it much more often than she had wished….

I’ll admit it – I’ve always been a bit intimidated by large gourds – calabazas, pumpkins, butternuts. I think it’s mostly because of the squash’s size, though reasons extend to its tough outer peel, tangled innards and mess of seeds. And, though I do immensely enjoy a smooth and creamy calabaza or butternut soup, after a long day, sometimes I’m simply too lazy for that extra step of plugging in the immersion blender. Heck, sometimes even too lazy to turn on the stove.

Today's afternoon market... big calabazas!

But alas, with a just sharpened knife and new veggie peeler, my fears have been replaced by a newfound adoration – the oven roasted squash. I could imagine roasted calabaza being delicious just on its own, however, I decided to combine the squash with some hearty quinoa to add a bit of heft to the meal. The use of both white and red onions was a vain attempt to bring in some color, but after a long roast, it was mostly the color brown. Finally, the addition of warm spices – like cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg – made the cold wintery evening simply melt away.

So simple!

Curried Quinoa with Roasted Calabaza and Raisins

Ingredients (serves 4):

~0.5 kg or 1 lb of calabaza (butternut or pumpkin also works) squash, peeled and cut into small cubes

1/2 white onion, finely sliced

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 cup (measured uncooked) quinoa

1/2 cup raisins

1 heaping tablespoon curry madras

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

3-4 tablespoons good olive oil

salt and pepper

zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 200 deg C (~390 deg F). Line a large baking tray with foil. Toss cubed calabaza and sliced onions with spices (curry, cinammon, nutmeg), a few pinches of salt/pepper, and oil; spread onto the baking tray in an even single layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until calabaza just begins to brown. While the squash is roasting, cook quinoa as directed. Additionally, to plump the raisins, place raisins into a small bowl and cover with hot water.

Once everything has finished cooking, in a large serving bowl, combine together the squash, onions, and quinoa. Add the lemon zest. Also drain and add raisins. Salt and pepper to taste.

The market had some beautiful green asparagus. It also had some beautiful white asparagus. Of course, I couldn’t resist either.

Always over eager with my fresh market finds, I wanted to combine both into a pretty striped side dish of punchy greens and creamy white. I’ve tried white asparagus only once in Germany and admittedly, it didn’t leave a big impression. But, I hold a bias against boiled vegetables and the lack of texture and often times, loss of flavor that ensues. Rather throwing my spears into water, I chose an oven bake to better caramelize the natural sugars of the vegetables and enhance flavors. The result: wonderfully sweet green asparagus mixed with warm, nutty whites.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (392 degrees F). Meanwhile, wash asparagus and trim woody ends. For the white asparagus, hold each spear flat against a cutting board and peel away tough outer layer from just below the tip to the ends.

Place asparagus spears into a baking dish lined with foil. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, mix, and arrange into a single layer. Bake for ~20 minutes, until spears are tender and just begin to caramelize.

For the dressing, gently melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, stir in salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, and remove from heat. To serve, pour the herbed lemon butter over asparagus. Garnish with an additional sprinkle of minced parsley.

Like this:

The village laid still and quiet today, the day after a night of revelry for Dia de Los Reyes, or Three Kings Day in Spain. It was in stark contrast to the party of the night before – the village crowd had filled the streets to eagerly await the arrival of the Three Kings, while the children, their presents! Though a bit too drained to join the celebration, KJ (my stepdaughter here for an extended school exchange) and I, en route home from a pizza dinner, managed to catch a glimpse of it all before maneuvering our way around each festivity roadblock and weaving the lighted hills in a detour back home.

The leftover pizza, however, came in handy as a nice lunchtime treat, since most stores and shops remained closed while the village slept the day away. Probably all for the best, as the afternoon brought a dismal grey sky. Dark clouds loomed low, and even though the winds had calmed since yesterday, frigid icy air slipped in through any opened window. With a few sweet potatoes in the vegetable basket and coconut milk in the pantry, a light and creamy soup soon evolved.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients (serves 4)

3 medium sized sweet potatoes, cubed

1 large onion, finely diced

1 piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin strips

1 can coconut milk

3 tablespoons Curry Madras

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 pint (1/8 cup) water

2 tablespoons grape seed oil

a few pinches of fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

Using a large pot, heat grape seed oil over medium high temperature. Sauté diced onions and ginger until onions soften and the ginger becomes fragrant (~5 minutes). Next, add sweet potatoes, cook for ~10 minutes until potatoes are just tender. Pour in coconut milk, lemon juice, and stir in curry, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium/medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer for ~15-20 minutes; the potatoes should be fully softened once the soup is done. Finally, cream the mixture with an immersion blender to obtain a smooth, whipped texture. Serve steaming hot with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Like this:

Three-quarters of a big head of napa cabbage has sat planted in my fridge for the past few days. Over the weekend, I shredded and mixed one-fourth of the cabbage into a meat filling used for a Chinese dumpling “test-run”. The dumplings are still a work in progress – the dough has been tricky – but hopefully, it’ll be perfected by Christmas. Reasons for the deadline – hubby had proudly (so sweet) but a bit overzealously (so eager) promised my in-laws a holiday dumpling feast without knowing that, without the availability of pre-made wrappers, I am dumpling handicapped. Practice in this case, however, is really making perfect. (Hubby’s also getting pretty good at rolling dough.) So stay tuned, bloggable dumplings coming soon!

But back to the napa. A lot of napa.

Napa, with its big cylindrical shape and heavy leaves, takes up a lot of space in a small European sized refrigerator. It is, however, quite versatile. One head, as I’ve now garnered from experience, can go towards many different uses. I weighed my options accordingly. Kimchi? Too much time. A Salad? Too chilly of a day. I settled on a quick braise and in one fell swoop, reclaimed entitled real estate. Triumph.

Braised Napa Cabbage (makes 5-6 side servings)

Ingredients:

one head of napa cabbage

2 gloves garlic, minced

1 small bulb of ginger, peeled and cut into very thin, skinny strips

2 red Thai chili peppers (spiciness optional), diced.

1 bunch of green scallions, chopped

olive oil

Sauce:

4-5 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

2 tablespoons sherry

1 teaspoon agave syrup

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons Kuzu (natural thickener from Kuzu plant; cornstarch can also be substituted)

Rough chop cabbage into ~5 cm (2 inch) pieces; discard cabbage core. In a small bowl, mix together ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large wok or skillet and heat over high heat. Next, add cabbage to the hot pan. Since one head of cabbage yields quite a bit, work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan – about 4 batches for a medium sized napa. Cook, constantly stirring, until leaves begin to slightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add more oil in between batches if necessary.

Once the last batch of cabbage is finished and removed, add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the empty pan over medium-high heat. Cook minced garlic, ginger, scallions, and chill peppers, stirring continuously, until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add sauce and heat through for 1 minute, stirring to thicken. Finally, place cooked cabbage back into the pan and reheat with the sauce; mix to coat all the leaves. Cook for 5-6 minutes.

Alongside the cabbage, I made some pan fried shrimp with a fragrant, fresh ground Sichuan peppercorn and sea-salt rub (thanks for the suggestion, Conor!).

So happy after a light and healthy lunch. Moreover, so happy to have my refrigerator space back!

Like this:

I’ve buried myself in work for the last week or so, hunched over my computer from morning until way past bedtime, with breaks taken only for a) gym b) cooking and eating c) blogging. I had planned on a marathon work session for the weekend as well, but this morning the surprisingly sunny and balmy November day teased and tempted me to do otherwise.

Venturing into the city, I found these beautiful skinny and shiny green scallions at the supermarket. Okay, I also found a couple of cashmere sweaters along the way that drew my love more than the scallions did, but the scallions caught my attention since I already had a recipe in mind and these ones looked quite perfect.

Simple Side: Scallions and Carrots (adapted from Saveur Issue #47)

Ingredients: (makes 2 large side servings or 4 smaller ones)

3 bunches scallions, trimmed

3 carrots, peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon honey or agave syrup

Cut whites from scallions into 8 cm or 3 inch lengths. Save the greens for another use. Cut carrots into matchsticks of the same length.

Heat oil in a skillet over high heat; add carrots and stir-fry for 1 minute. Next, add scallions and stir-fry until it just starts to brown, 2–3 minutes. Finally, add butter, soy sauce, and agave syrup; cook for 30 seconds more.

The original recipe called for vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. I substituted olive oil instead, reduced the amount of butter by half, and used agave syrup as a natural sugar substitute. Even with the modifications, the dish came out still smooth and rich, with just the right hint of sweetness from the agave. I enjoyed the scallions/carrots alongside a big flaky salmon fillet. Simple and delicious.